{"product_id":"queen-isabella-isbn-9780345453204","title":"Queen Isabella","description":"\u003cb\u003e“Gripping . . . a highly readable tour de force that brings Queen Isabella vividly to life.”—\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post Book World\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn “insightful and compelling” (\u003ci\u003eUSA Today\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003ebiography of Isabella of England, one of history’s most notorious and charismatic queens, from the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author hailed as “the finest historian of English monarchical succession writing” (\u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIsabella arrived in London in 1308, the spirited twelve-year-old daughter of King Philip IV of France. Her marriage to the heir to England’s throne was designed to heal old political wounds between the two countries, and in the years that followed, she would become an important figure, a determined and clever woman whose influence would come to last centuries. But Queen Isabella’s political machinations led generations of historians to malign her, earning her a reputation as a ruthless schemer and an odious nickname, “the She-Wolf of France.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe newly wed Isabella was denied the attentions of Edward II, a weak, sexually ambiguous monarch with scant taste for his royal duties. As their marriage progressed, Isabella was neglected by her dissolute husband and slighted by his favored male courtiers. Humiliated and deprived of her income, her children, and her liberty, Isabella escaped to France, where she entered into a passionate affair with Edward II’s mortal enemy, Roger Mortimer. Together, they deposed Edward and ruled in his stead as co-regents for Isabella’s young son, Edward III. Fate, however, was soon to catch up with Isabella and her lover.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA work of extraordinary original research,\u003ci\u003e Queen Isabella \u003c\/i\u003estrips away centuries of propaganda, legend, and romantic myth, and gives a groundbreaking new perspective on Isabella, a truly remarkable woman who had a profound influence upon the age in which she lived and the history of western Europe.“Gripping . . . a highly readable tour de force that brings Queen Isabella vividly to life.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post Book World\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Insightful and compelling . . . [offers] surprise after surprise about the sensual, rather avaricious but eminently admirable Isabella.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eUSA Today\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[Isabella’s] story has a distinctly modern appeal. . . . Full of violent men with short tempers, conniving politicians and wildly domineering parents, it’s a period-piece melodrama that doubles as a timeless morality play.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Fascinating . . . a work of extraordinary historical reporting that is rich, alive, and truly exciting.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eTucson Citizen\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“It’s her ability to capture the personalities of her aristocratic subjects—and to deliciously catalogue their clothes, food and entertainments—that have made Weir such a popular historian.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eNewsday\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This meticulous no-nonsense biography presents a fascinating story complete with puzzles.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/i\u003e (U.K.)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Weir’s book offers incredibly in-depth details of and insights into royal life in the fourteenth century.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eRichmond Times-Dispatch\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A sympathetic account of Isabella.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Times Literary Supplement\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[Weir] explains the past in terms that we understand and use today.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Tablet\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[An] enthralling biography . . . It provides a beautifully nuanced portrait of a fascinating lady and gives a vivid sense of the riotous realpolitik of medieval times.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Scotsman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Weir weaves so much closely researched detail into a highly readable and fascinating tale. . . . She really brings history to life.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eLincolnshire Echo\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[A] balanced view of Isabella’s life . . . Weir succeeds in bringing to life a murky period of history, which has been shrouded in myth and legend.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Literary Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Dramatic and compulsively readable, this biography paints a realistic and compassionate portrait.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eWoman \u0026amp; Home\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Weir presents a fascinating rewriting of a controversial life that should supersede all previous accounts. Isabella is so intertwined with the greatest figures of her century and the next that any reader of English history will want this book.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlison Weir \u003c\/b\u003eis the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eEleanor of Aquitaine, Mary, Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley,\u003c\/i\u003e and several other historical biographies. She lives in Surrey with her husband and two children.Chapter One\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    On 20 May 1303, a solemn betrothal took place in Paris. The bride was   seven years old, the groom, who was not present, nineteen. She was   Isabella, the daughter of Philip IV, King of France; he, Edward of   Caernarvon, Prince of Wales, the son and heir of Edward I, King of   England.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    The Prince had sent the Earl of Lincoln and the Count of Savoy as his   proxies, and during the ceremony, they formally asked the King and   Queen of France for the hand of their daughter, the Lady Isabella, in   marriage for the Prince of Wales. Consent was duly given, then Gilles,   Archbishop of Narbonne, the presiding priest, required Isabella to   plight her troth. Placing her hand in that of the Archbishop, she duly   did so, giving her assent to the betrothal on condition that all the   articles of the marriage treaty were fulfilled.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    This union had been arranged after tortuous negotiations to cement a   lasting peace between those old warring enemies, England and France.   Isabella’s father, Philip IV, known as Philip the Fair, was the most   powerful ruler in Christendom at that time and also the most   controversial. Not only had he been engaged in territorial wars with   both England and Flanders for the past seven years, he had also,   despite boasting the title of “Most Christian King,” become involved in   a bitter conflict with the Papacy after imposing limitations on the   Pope’s authority in France. This was to lead to his excommunication   only months after his daughter’s betrothal.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Philip’s war with Edward I was the result of a long-standing feud over   England’s possessions in France. In the twelfth century, through the   marriage of Henry II to Eleanor of Aquitaine, the empire of the   Plantagenets, the dynasty that Henry founded, had extended from   Normandy to the Pyrenees, while the royal demesne of France had been   limited to the regions around Paris. By 1204, Henry’s son, King John,   had lost most of the English territories, including Normandy, to the   ambitious Philip II “Augustus” of France, and there were further French   encroachments under John’s son Henry III, as successive French monarchs   sought to broaden their domain. By the time of Edward I, all that   remained of England’s lands in France was the prosperous wine-producing   duchy of Gascony, the southern part of the former duchy of Aquitaine,   along with the counties of Ponthieu and Montreuil, which had come to   the English Crown through the marriage of Edward I to Eleanor of   Castile in 1254.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Philip IV, who was vigorously carrying on his predecessors’   expansionist policy, not surprisingly had his eye on Gascony, and in   1296, he invaded and took possession of it. There were two ways to   settle a conflict: by military force or by diplomacy. Edward I wanted   Gascony back, and Philip wanted to drive a wedge between Edward and the   Flemings, who were uniting against him. By 1298, the two Kings were   engaged in secret negotiations for a peace. Then Pope Boniface VIII   intervened. In the spring of 1298, he suggested a double marriage   alliance between France and England: his plan was that Edward I, a   widower since the death of Eleanor of Castile in 1290, marry Philip’s   sister Marguerite, while Edward’s son and heir, the Prince of Wales, be   betrothed to Philip’s daughter Isabella, then two years old. Once this   peace had been sealed, Gascony could be returned to Edward I.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Boniface’s suggestion appealed to both parties; it conjured up for   Philip the tantalizing prospect of French influence being extended into   England and his grandson eventually occupying the throne of that realm;   and for Edward I, it promised the return of Gascony and a brilliant   match for his son. As the daughter of the King of France and the Queen   of Navarre, Isabella was a great prize in the marriage market: no Queen   of England before her had boasted such a pedigree.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    The deal was agreed in principle, and two weeks later, on 15 May, King   Edward appointed Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, to negotiate both   marriages. In March 1299, Parliament accepted the terms negotiated by   Lincoln, and on 12 May following, plans were set in hand for the proxy   betrothals. Three days later, the Earl of Lincoln, Amadeus, Count of   Savoy, and the Earl of Warwick were appointed to act for Edward I and   his son, and soon afterward, they departed for France. Edward I   privately instructed the Count to find out as much as he could about   the personal attributes of Marguerite of France, including the size of   her foot and the width of her waist. The Count reported back that she   was “a fair and marvellously virtuous lady,” pious and charitable.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    The Treaty of Montreuil, which provided for Isabella’s future betrothal   to Edward of Caernarvon, was drawn up on 19 June, ratified by Edward I   and the Prince of Wales on 4 July, and amplified by the Treaty of   Chartres on 3 August. Under its terms, Philip was to give Isabella a   dowry of £18,000, and once she became Queen of England, she was to have   in dower all the lands formerly held by Eleanor of Castile, which were   in the interim to be settled by Edward I on Marguerite; these amounted   to £4,500 per annum. Should Edward I default on the treaties, he would   forfeit Gascony; if Philip defaulted, he would pay Edward a fine of   £100,000. On 29 August, at the instance of Edward I, the King and Queen   of France gave solemn guarantees that the marriages would take place,   and in September, Marguerite of France, then aged twenty at most,   arrived in England and was married to the sixty-year-old Edward I in   Canterbury Cathedral. Against the odds, this proved to be a successful   and happy union, and produced three children. In October 1299, Philip   IV finally ratified the Treaty of Montreuil. “When love buds between   great princes, it drives away bitter sobs from their subjects,”   commented a contemporary.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    In 1300, the French occupied Flanders, but two years later, they were   humiliatingly defeated and massacred by the Flemings at Courtrai.   Throughout this time, Edward I had continued to press for the immediate   restoration of Gascony, but Philip would not agree to this until after   the Prince of Wales had fulfilled his promise to marry Isabella, who   was still too young to wed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    By April 1303, Edward I was losing interest in the alliance and was   beginning to look elsewhere for a bride for his son. At this crucial   point, fearing a war on two fronts, Philip IV played his trump card and   agreed to restore the duchy of Gascony to Edward without further delay;   his intention was, as he reminded Edward II in 1308, that it should in   time become the inheritance of his grandchildren, the heirs of Edward   and Isabella. Edward I was now satisfied, and the Treaty of Paris,   which officially restored the duchy, was signed on the same day that   young Isabella and Edward of Caernarvon were betrothed. There would be   further conflict between Edward I and Philip IV, but nothing serious   enough to break this new alliance. Isabella was now destined to be   Queen of England.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Isabella was probably born in 1295. There is conflicting evidence as to   the year. Piers of Langtoft says she was “only seven years of age” in   1299, which places her birth in 1292, the date given in the Annals of   Wigmore. Yet she is described by both the French chronicler Guillaume   de Nangis and Thomas Walsingham as being twelve years old at the time   of her marriage in January 1308, which suggests she was born between   January 1295 and January 1296. Given that twelve was the canonical age   for marriage, and that in 1298, the Pope had stipulated that she should   marry Prince Edward as soon as she reached that age, these dates are   viable. In the same document of June 1298, the Pope describes Isabella   as being “under seven years,” which places her birth at any time from   1291 onward. Furthermore, the Treaty of Montreuil (June 1299) provided   for Isabella’s betrothal and marriage to take place when she reached   the respective canonical ages of seven and twelve. So she must have   reached seven before May 1303, and twelve before January 1308.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    It has been suggested that Isabella had already reached the canonical   age for marriage in 1305, when she and the Prince of Wales nominated   representatives for a marriage by proxy. This did not take place   because of continued squabbles over Guienne, but the fact that these   nominations were made has been held as evidence that Isabella had then   reached, or was soon to reach, the age of twelve, which would place her   date of birth around 1293. Yet this theory is contradicted by a papal   dispensation issued by Clement V in November 1305, giving the young   couple permission to marry at once even though Isabella had not yet   reached her twelfth year and was at present in her tenth year. This   suggests a birth date between November 1294 and November 1295. The   waters are muddied still further by a decree issued by Philip IV in   1310, in which Isabella is referred to as his “primogenita,” or   “firstborn,” which suggests that she was born in 1288 at the latest, as   her eldest brother Louis was born in October 1289. This date conflicts   with all the other evidence and is probably the result of an error on   the part of the official drawing up the document.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    In conclusion, the evidence in the papal dispensations and documents   and the Treaty of Montreuil is likely to be more reliable, and taken   together, it supports a birth date between May and November 1295, which   in turn is supported by the statements of Guillaume de Nangis and   Thomas Walsingham. This would make Isabella seven years old at the time   of her betrothal and twelve years old at the time of her marriage.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Isabella grew up in a period when society regarded women as inferior   beings. “We should look on the female role as a deformity, though one   which occurs in the ordinary course of nature,” states a   thirteenth-century edition of Aristotle’s Generation of Animals. “Woman   is the confusion of man, an insatiable beast, a continuous anxiety, an   incessant warfare, a daily ruin, a house of tempest and a hindrance to   devotion,” fulminated the misogynistic Vincent de Beauvais in the   thirteenth century. In 1140, the canon lawyer Gratian asserted that   “women should be subject to their men. The natural order for mankind is   that women should serve men and children their parents, for it is just   that the lesser serve the greater.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    The husband was his wife’s lord and master: he was to her as Christ to   the Church. Thus, if a woman murdered her husband, she was guilty of   petty treason and could be burned at the stake. He, however, had the   right to beat her if she displeased him; indeed, it was “the husband’s   office to be his wife’s chastiser.” He was not supposed to kill or maim   her through such punishment, although, according to the legal code   enshrined in the Customs of Beauvais, “in a number of cases men may be   excused for the injuries they inflict on their wives, nor should the   law intervene.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    It was a woman’s duty to love her husband and show him due obedience.   In 1393, an anonymous Parisian writer instructed wives to obey their   husbands’ commandments, since “his pleasure should come before yours,”   and he advised them to “cherish your husband’s person, give him plenty   of attention, and the cheer of other delights, privy frolics, lovings   and secret matters. Do not be quarrelsome, but sweet, gentle and   amiable. And if you do all this he will keep his heart for you, and he   will care nothing for other women.” The onus was always on the wife to   maintain the stability of a marriage.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    In law, women were regarded as infants, so they had few legal rights.   They were viewed as assets in the marriage market, chattels in property   or land deals, or prizes in the game of courtly love, and their roles   were very narrowly defined. When a group of noblewomen attempted to   usurp male privilege and arrange a tournament in 1348, God “put their   frivolity to rout by heavy thunderstorms and divers extraordinary   tempests.” In the fifteenth century, one of Joan of Arc’s chief crimes   was the adoption of male attire, which was seen as tantamount to   heresy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Some highborn ladies were taught to read and write, but they were the   fortunate few. In the thirteenth century, Philip of Navarre thought   that generally women “should not learn to read or write unless they are   going to be nuns, as much harm has come from such knowledge. For men   will dare to send letters near them containing indecent requests in the   form of songs or rhymes or tales, which they would never dare convey by   message or word of mouth. And the Devil could soon lead her on to read   the letters or”—even worse—“answer them.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Above all, in an age in which lineage and inheritance were paramount   concerns, women were expected to be beyond moral reproach and to follow   the virtuous example of the Virgin Mary. But because they were   descended from Eve, who had committed the original sin, and were thus   more likely to give in to temptation than men, they had to carefully   guard their reputations. There was much comment on the frailty of   women. “Wheresoever beauty shows upon the face, there lurks much filth   beneath the skin.” This anonymous Parisian writer also observed that   “every good quality is obscured in the woman whose virginity or   chastity falters. Women of sense avoid not only the sin itself, but   also the appearance of it, so as to keep their good name. So you see in   what peril a woman places her honour and that of her husband’s lineage   and of her children when she does not avoid the risks of such blame.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    The Church taught that sex was primarily for procreation, not pleasure,   and that intercourse was only permissible within marriage. Adultery was   regarded as exceptionally sinful, especially on the part of a wife, for   it jeopardized her husband’s bloodline. In 1371, the author of the Book   of the Knight of La Tour Landry insisted that “women who fall in love   with married men are worse than whores in brothels, and a gentlewoman   who has enough to live on yet takes a lover does it from nothing but   the carnal heat of lust.” A husband who caught his wife in adultery had   the legal right to kill her.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    There were, of course, many women who circumvented the conventions.   Many ran farms or businesses, or administered estates. Some even   practiced as physicians. A few wrote books. And queens, by virtue of   their exalted marital status, could exercise political authority and   the power of patronage. Isabella would have been brought up to know   exactly what was required of her as a daughter and as a wife, and she   had before her the example of her mother, who was a queen in her own   right.New York Times bestselling author of The Lady in the Tower","brand":"Ballantine Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302945935589,"sku":"NP9780345453204","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780345453204.jpg?v=1767735273","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/queen-isabella-isbn-9780345453204","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}